The Learnings of Life
by wolfpackgirl92
Summary: Lily lost her family at a young age and was alone the first few years of her life. Watch as she learns and progresses and works through all the ups and downs of her life.
1. Prologue

This story will start oddly, but I promise it gets better. It is supposed to show her progression. :)

* * *

Snow, bright lights

my eyes

Mother… sees me

Mom

is happy

Wind

rough.

We play

Bright fur in the suns rays

Noise

BANG

Red

No white

Mother pushes me

Hard

Stumble

Father not move

Mom

Growls

GO

I run

Loud noise

No mother

Run


	2. Two Years Later

I read a poem the other day that went something like this.

"Beauty is abused, when you see it every day.

We complain about seeing the forest, because the trees are in the way."

I think this is becoming a theme for this story. I'm approaching it a bit different than the normal story, so any criticisms are welcomed. I wish to write a book, but wanted to make sure I am at least a decent writer before starting the process. So I created a fanfiction out of an idea that has been running through my head. I have no beta, so this is probably filled with grammatical errors.

* * *

Two Years Later

"It's right over there, I can smell it." A man says, growling and pointed off in the distance. I look that way, nothing. I stare, there are three men altogether. Hungry. So hungry. Must eat. I sit in my tree, biding my time. They step closer to me and one freezes, his eyes penetrating me in a staring. Just staring. Staring. Staring.

"Edward, what are you doing? The food is this way, I'm pretty sure you don't want a furry chipmunk for dinner." A yellow haired man says, stepping closer to him. I glare, affronted, before attacking. I jump high in an arc, aiming for the yellow haired one.

"What the fuc-"

"Is tha-"

Something hits me before I get salvation. It was like running into a rock wall. Food I want is gone, out of my sight. I hit the ground, held down by one of them. Anger hits me hard.

I try to bite, another grabs me to hold me down. I cannot move at all. I start to panic, fighting as hard as I can to get away.

"Edward, what just happened?" The yellow one asks.

"I… I was about to go for the deer, but I picked up jumbled thoughts. It was coming from the chipmunk… but, it turned into a tiger?" He sighs, looking completely comfused.

"I've never heard of something like that before. Shape shifters and werewolves, yes. But nothing like this." Brown hair says. I fight more, whining and kicking. Nothing.

"What should we do?" Light brown eyes look down at me. I hiss.

"Let's bring it to Carlisle, I think it's human. It sounds human in its head at least." Brown hair grabs me hard. I cannot move at all. Panicking, I switch to a raven and attempt to fly away.

"Grab it! Before it gets away!" My wings hit the air and sweet freedom is mine. I start to climb higher, but fingers wrap around me. I screech in anger pecking at the fingers, but they do not budge.

"Come on, hurry. We have to get it back to Carlisle"

"This thing is stronger than it looks." Brown man grumbles, before dragging me with him and holding onto me tightly so that I cannot get away.

* * *

Six Months Later

"Put this on darling." I sit on the bed, glaring at the dress. I shake my head hard, my feet swaying above the floor as I kick them. She sighs at me.

"Lily put it on, or I am going to make you." I hiss at her and back up onto of the bed on all fours angry.

"Still fighting with her to get this on?" I hear someone ask from behind the door. Rosalie walks into the room and stops, looking me over. Alice throws the dress on a chair roughly and sighs.

"She's almost harder to work with than a newborn, Rosalie. I don't know what to do with her." Alice runs a hand through her hair and slightly tugs, her eyebrows furrowed, face frowning.

Rosalie walks over to me and sits down at the corner of the bed. I hiss again, backing up in warning. My back hits the wall and I jump, frightened. She only gives me a warm smile and beckons me toward her with a hand. I cautiously look between her and the dress, and she beckons me again with a wave of a hand. I slowly start to crawl over, and she does not move, not an inch. She just keeps her hand out, waving me toward her with a relaxed expression. I stop when I am in front of her, pausing, before burrowing myself into her arms. Strong arms wrap around me and hold me, lightly rubbing my back every so often. I hear a sigh and footsteps out the door and leading down the stairs.

"Shhh, it's okay. No one is going to hurt you." Rosalie takes a hand and pushes my untamed and snarled hair back out of my face. I rub against her palm, and warmth fills me. Happy. I love her. I am safe. She hums to me and I calm, letting out a whine, before relaxing against her tiredly. She always keeps me safe when I sleep. She never leaves like mother and father.


	3. Five Worried Vampires

I updated the story artwork. It is close to how I view Lily, but her eyes are slightly darker... well, it is how she will look like once she is older. Right now, she is still young. :)

* * *

Four Months Later

A ball hits the air. I quickly look at it, sizing it up, before jumping and grabbing it in the air. A loud popping sound reverberates throughout the valley and glee fills me. I hear Emmett's loud voice shortly after.

"Aww, she always pops the ball. Why does she always become a cat and catches the ball?" He kicks at the dirt irritated.

"I don't think she can control it Emmett." I hear Esme say from her blanket. Esme smiles at me and waves. I hurriedly switch back to human and run over to her on all fours, plowing her over. She laughs at me and I happily rub my newly shaved head against her. They gave up on keeping me still long enough to brush it and just cut it all off. I giggle at her and sit on my knees.

"I brought an extra ball in case this happened." Jasper disappears and comes back with a baseball and a bat. I whine, I cannot pop that. Rosalie sees the pout on my face and laughs, her face seeming to radiate with happiness. She leans over to me and whispers in my ear conspiratorially.

"You know what you're doing, you just like popping them huh?" She pulls away from me and sends me a mischievous look. I giggle and smile in response. Esme watches us with a small smile on face. Her lips scrunch up and she zips her lips with her fingers. I hear Alice messing with something a few feet away, she walks over to us and gracefully sits down on the blanket without a sound.

"How do you guys always get her to respond to you? She never will with me." A pout decorates Alice's face and I run and hide behind Rosalie, peaking out at her from behind an arm. She watches me carefully, before speaking.

"Can you say Alice? Say Alice." I glare at her and shake my head roughly. Esme lets out an airy laugh and Rosalie replies to Alice.

"She hasn't said a word yet, and you expect her first one to be Alice?" Alice's pout deepens at Rosalie's words.

"I can try, can't I?" Rosalie shrugs noncommittally and I stick my head between her arm and her body to look at Alice, before sticking my tongue out. Alice's eyes widen and she starts to vibrate like a bee. Buzz. Buzz. I like bees.

"She understands! See! I told you guys she understands everything! She just stuck her tongue out at me!" Esme arches an eyebrow at Alice, shaking her head in disbelief.

"I doubt it, it could have been a coincidence."

"But her face! She was teasing me!"

"Darlin', are you okay?" Jasper flits over to Alice and places a hand on her shoulder. She takes in all of our expressions before giving up, but not before saying something.

"One day I will prove to you guys she understands everything. I think she just chooses not to speak." She looks over at Edward for confirmation, but Edward just shrugs in response. At seeing her glare, he speaks up.

"Her thoughts are always jumbled. She thinks about everything at once. Everything she sees, hears, smells is all thrown together. She likes to think in color a lot too. I think it is the way she organizes things. If I knew what each color meant it would help, but I don't." He states apologetically to her, his hands palm up in a calming position. Alice nods, already knowing this information.

"I still cannot see her future." Alice says subdued, watching me carefully. I snap my teeth at her, and she rolls her eyes.

"Well she's improved a lot in the few months we have had her. She's dressed for one." Carlisle interrupts. They all look at the white dress I have on and I start to pull at the edges, leaning on Rosalie. So many strands in my dress. I pull it up to my face to look at it closer. They all blend in together, to create one. I start to tug at one of the threads and Rosalie lightly takes my hand and puts my dress down.

"Don't do that, it's not ladylike." I push my lip out at her, and she just waves a finger back and forth signaling no. I dejectedly let go of the edge of my dress and pull away from her, slightly annoyed. She just smiles and leaves me be.

"She is progressing very well, I think her age is around five if she ages like a normal human." Carlisle says, his hands in his pockets. I just look at him, unblinking.

"She should speak soon then." Alice says determined. I hear slight chuckles come from them all, and I look around confused.

"Well what are we waiting for? I'm still gonna kick your asses no matter how long you draw it out." Emmett says smiling. Jasper walks over determined, along with Edward.

"We'll see about that." Jasper replies, a look of concentration upon his face.

"Language." Esme says to him, giving them a disproving look. Emmett shrugs, looking apologetic, before turning back to the game determined. I watch them all as the play, it is fun to watch. You cannot guess what is going to happen.

"You can understand, can't you?" a low voice whispers in my ear, almost too low to hear. I look behind me to see Rosalie smirking at me. I look at the others and see they are not paying attention, and then return my glance to Rosalie. I made a slight nod, almost too slight for anyone to see, and turn back to the game smiling. I hear Rosalie's light laugh behind me, before I tune her out to watch the game in complete concentration.


	4. One Leap of Faith

Hi everyone! I now have a beta, her name is winnieeo check her out.

Questions:

Yes wood-morning, she is able to change into any animal that she wants to. :)

* * *

Two Months Later

I throw a vase down in anger and then thrust my body onto the wooden floor, screaming. Esme hurries over to me and picks me up off the floor.

"Lily, you cannot do that," she says calmly. "Show me what you want. I cannot help you if you do not show me." Tears flow down my face and I stop throwing my tantrum. I bury myself in Esme's arms and begin crying hard.

"Shhh, just show me. Show me what you want. Throwing tantrums will not help you."

Another rough sob breaks from my throat. I run away from her and toss myself dejected on the couch, face first, crying into the pillows. I hear Esme stand up and then chinks of glass hitting each other. I look over quickly to see her cleaning up the mess I made and then, just as quickly, I burrow my head back into the couch, cries racking my frame. I stay like this on the couch for a half hour and I am still crying when Esme comes back.

I let out a shrill scream once she gets close to me and continue crying into the couch.

"Lily, I do not know what you want. You have to help me." Nothing but my high keening fills the room. Esme gives up and goes to a chair in the corner and knits. It is one of the few activities Esme does for enjoyment and relaxation. A few minutes later the door opens, signaling that the others are back from the hunt, and Rosalie hurriedly comes in and picks me up, holding me in her arms.

"What is wrong with her?" Rosalie asks, petting my hair.

Esme places the knitting needles down on a table calmly and replies, "I do not know, she will not tell me. She just threw a fit earlier and pitched a vase across the room."

Rosalie pulls me from her body so that we are looking each other in the eye.

"Lily, you can't do that okay? You can't throw a fit every time something does not go your way. Do you understand?"

My cries have stopped by now but my breath still hitches from my chest. I nod at her wiping at my face. She gives me a loving smile and holds me tight, rocking me back and forth.

"Do you know what you want?" I hear her ask. I nod my head against her shoulder, tired from my earlier fit and crying. A few seconds later she asks another question,

"Can you express it to me?"

I pull back, frustration on my face and tears welling in my eyes again. She breathes in and pulls me back to her and I lean on her shoulder. I lay there, thinking about what I want, before trying to put it together.

"Pink milk" I whisper on her shoulder.

Silence suddenly fills the room.

I feel her tense up and stop moving, before pulling away from me. Rosalie looks at me carefully, before speaking again,

"You used your words." It was a statement, not a question. I nod anyways, looking at her thoughtfully. A laugh whiffs from her throat and I hear Alice make an odd noise.

"Your first word is pink milk." Rosalie laughs. I hear a snort from upstairs where Jasper is.

"Looks like I won that bet Alice," Edward suavely says, gloating at her. He was referring to a bet they made over what my first word would be. Alice was adamant it would be her name, while Edward said it would be something practical. I glance over and see Alice, irritation written all over her face from losing the bet. She walks over to me then, almost too quick for me to see.

"Say Alice. Come on, just say it once," Alice pleads, eye level with me.

I shake my head, no, and turn my face back to Rosalie's shoulder where I lay my head back down, my face the opposite direction of hers. I hear snickers in the air and Alice gives up. She throws her hands up in the air and storms upstairs, mumbling under her breath. Rosalie runs her hands through my short hair and kisses the top of my head.

"I knew you could speak, you were just waiting for when you wanted to."

I remain silent, stubbornly trying to keep my eyes open to defeat sleep. But shortly thereafter, my eyes close on their own accord and blackness is welcomed.

* * *

I fold the blanket messily and hurry outside where everyone else is waiting. We are going swimming today for my birthday. The Cullen's are not sure of my actual birthday, so they just decided to celebrate it on the day the Cullen's found me. I run over to Esme and grab her hand before looking up at her.

"Are you ready?"

I nod quickly and she gives me a once over, peering at my dress that is falling off my shoulders with smudges on it and then at my bare feet.

"You want to go like that?"

I nod harder, getting dizzy from how forcefully I'm shaking my head.

"She doesn't care about things like that," I hear Alice loftily reply from her vantage point. She is next to Jasper, holding hands with him. She looks offended at how uncaring I am of my clothes.

"At least she's starting to care about putting them on. Before she would run around naked like a wild banshee," Rosalie says, suddenly appearing by my shoulder with a towel in her hand. She rubs my cheek softly before pulling away.

"You always forget your towel sweetheart. You can still get sick, even if your immune system is better than humans are."

I stick my tongue out at her and start to tug at Esme's hand, getting restless.

"Okay, okay. Let's go."

We start to run through the forest, but after a short ways I notice that most of the others are not here. I send a confused look to Rosalie and she smiles at me, already knowing what my look meant.

"The others are fine, they're just doing something right now."

I nod, placated, and we continue our way until we get to the waterfall. As soon as I push through the trees I see water. Immediately, I let go of Esme's hand to jump into the water but Rosalie grabs me before I jump. I start to whine, pushing away from her.

"There, there. We have to get this dress off of you first. You put your bathing suit on under, right?"

I nod and start pulling at the dress hurriedly, trying to get it off.

Rosalie gently pushes my hands to the side and gets my dress off of me. I tug on one of the stripes on my bathing suit, feeling the texture of it distractedly, before realizing I had the dress off and then run and jump straight into the water. I swim to the bottom and see fish scatter everywhere. A big fish catches my attention. It is nearly half the size of me. I follow it as it lazily swims through the current-less under bed and into a hole, where it disappears. I start to feel a need for oxygen so I quickly swim back up and break the surface.

"You were down there for a while Lily. We were starting to get worried about you," Rosalie says from where she is laying.

"Fish," I say once I catch my breath. I swim over to her and shake myself off, spraying water everywhere. Esme watches me in amusement, lightly wiping off a cheek.

"A fish? You found a fish down there?"

I nod excited, my eyes lighting up.

"Was it a big fish?" she ask.

I nod again, giggling, and start to mimic the way the fish swam through the water. Esme and Rosalie chuckle at my enthusiasm and I beam at them. I look toward the waterfall and point to the top if it, jumping up and down in excitement. Rosalie quickly looks toward where I'm point at and stares back at me hard.

"You want to go up there?"

I nod quickly, my feet prancing on the ground.

"What do you want to do up there?"

I jump up and down then, while pointing at the top of the waterfall trying to convey my wish of jumping off the top.

Her eyes narrow at me. "You want to jump off?"

I nod, and then grab her hand trying to drag her toward the steep slope leading to the top. She pulls back though. I look back at her and see her watching me with a worried expression on her face.

"Are you sure you will be alright?"

I start to nod, but then stop to look at the mountain. It is high, very high. I stop jumping and look back at her with wide eyes.

"Do you still want to do it?"

I nod slowly at her.

"Do you want me to go with you to do it?"

I nod harder and start to, once again, tug her toward the steep slope. Rosalie lets go of my hand first to take off her dress that has a bathing suit under it. Once she has done that, she grabs my hand and we trek up the mountain together. When we reach at the top, I glance down over the edge. I was right, it _is_ high. Fear starts to seize me and I jerk, startled, when I feel a hand on my shoulder. I peer behind me to see Rosalie's concerned face.

"We don't have to do this if you don't want to," she says. I turn away from her and look toward the bottom again. What am I scared of? Rosalie is with me. Nothing ever hurts me when I am with her. I straighten my back, determined, and start to pull Rosalie once again toward the edge. We get there and I look at her. She studies me carefully before smiling. She seems to have made her decision.

"On the count of three, okay?" Rosalie whispers.

I nod, a bit jerkily.

"One."

"Two."

"Three!"

We jump together and my stomach plummets immediately. I grab at Rosalie with my other hand that is not holding onto her and she pulls me toward her and holds on tight. Wind pelts me in the face as we are falling and I can barely see the little strands of hair that I have whipping back and forth on my forehead.

"We're about to hit the water, hold your breath," she murmurs in my ear.

I immediately stop breathing and soon after we hit the surface of the water. We sink further into the darkness before Rosalie starts to pull me up. We reach the air and I gasp and clumsily start to climb ashore, stumbling once I hit the ground. I let myself fall on the dirt, face first, just breathing. Rosalie climbs out behind me and pats my back, laying down next to me so that her face is next to mine.

"Was that scary?" she questions.

I nod my head, still lying on the ground with my eyes closed.

"Hmm," I hear her say. "Would you do that again?"

I open my eyes and look at her before pulling myself in a sitting position and nodding. She looks at me surprised.

"You want to go again?"

I nod, pulling her toward the slopes once again with glee. As scary as it was, it was thrilling too.

* * *

Once we get home, I slam the door open and see all the lights turned off. I squint, confused. A light suddenly flicks on and singing starts.

"Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday dear Lily, Happy Birthday to you!" I stare at them confused, before Jasper comes over with a cake with candles on it. I look at him blankly.

"You're supposed to blow out the candles," Edwards says, understanding my blank expression. I stare at him, completely at a loss. He clarifies, "Whenever it is someone's birthday, you sing happy birthday and give them a cake with candles. The candles you blow out for good luck." Understanding dawns on me and I lean on my tippy toes to blow out the candles.

"She didn't know what Happy Birthday was?" Esme asks, taken aback.

Edward shakes his head.

"She lived in the wilderness most of her life. I don't think she remembers much of when she had a family and I don't think she watches enough TV either to really understand it. In fact, she doesn't really watch TV at all. She'd rather be outside playing with bugs and climbing trees." Alice looks at me sadly after that, watching me carefully.

I shake off her expression and look at the cake, motioning with my hands for Jasper to give it to me. Jasper hands it over and I shove my hands in the cake, quickly trying to demolish it before they take it away.

"Oh goodness, she's going to need a bath now," Esme states.

Emmett snorts and I plop on the floor with my cake, trying to eat it all.

"Now don't eat too much or you might get sick," Rosalie says sounding worried.

A throat clears and Carlisle starts to speak, "Well now that she has her cake, it's time for presents."

I stop eating and stare at him surprised.

Edward is suddenly in front of me, a gift in his hand. I push the cake to the side, already forgetting about it, but Esme grabs me.

"No, no, no. Wipe those hands first." I run to the bathroom, a trail of frosting following me, and then hurry back when I'm done. Esme sighs when she sees me again and I show her my clean hands.

"It's not your hands but your face I'm worried about now. It's everywhere." I give her puppy eyes until she relents and I run to Edward and grab my present. It is odd shaped and in a black case. I open the latches in a hurry and throw the case open. I stare, and then I stare some more. Finally, I look up at Edward, perplexed.

"It's a guitar, you can make music with it like I make music with the piano." Excitement bubbles in me after Edward says that and I grab it, pulling it out of the case.

"Careful with it, they break easily," he warns.

I nod, and hold it a bit gentler. I switch it this way and that, before Edward grabs it and places it in my arms.

"You hold it this way. This is how the music comes out." He plucks the strings one by one and I stare mesmerized. I start plucking them all at once. The notes come out loud and obnoxious, and I laugh merrily entranced with my new toy.

"I'll start giving you lessons soon," Edward says offhandedly.

I nod, overjoyed.

Alice flits over and gently takes the guitar and places it back in its case before handing me another present.

"This one is from Jasper and I," she states, grabbing onto Jasper's arm. Jasper smiles down at her with love in his eyes. I look away from them to my present and see that this one is rectangular. I rip open the box to see clothes, and pout.

"Well you need clothes," Alice clarifies.

Emmett guffaws at Alice before handing over a present also.

"This is from me and Rosie. We didn't get you crap like clothes. You already have a ton of them upstairs." Alice points her nose haughtily in the air when Emmett says that, and I nod smiling at him before ripping the new present open. It's a book with animals on it. I pull it open and see different animals on each page, most of them I have never seen before.

"It's an encyclopedia of animals. If it's ever lived before, it's in there. We figured you would like to be able to look up animals you might possibly want to become," Emmett says gruffly.

"We'll teach you how to read so that you can understand what it says," Rosalie adds.

I stare at them excitedly and start flipping through the book. I stop on a page with an animal that has odd wrinkled skin that is a dark grey/black. It has frills on its back and a forked tongue. I place the book on the floor with that page open and concentrate on trying to become that animal.

But nothing happens.

I purse my lips in annoyance, and Rosalie sits down next to me and leans over the book to read it to me.

"The Marine Iguana have the unique ability to change their size to adapt to various food conditions. They are ectothermic animals..." She pauses when she sees my confusion and explains, "Ectothermic means that their body temperature is dependent on their environment, not themselves." She continues on after that, "They're ectothermic animals and can become highly defensive when in a cold state and are known to attack." She stops again once she sees me successfully changing into the animal.

I flick my tongue at her and she blinks.

"Well it seems like she cannot become the animal she wants to become unless she knows what it looks like and what it's body functions are," Carlisle states, looking and me in a clinical way. I lay on my belly and curl up.

"That makes sense," whispers Edward, lost in a train of thought.

"Well," Esme interrupts before they could get into a discussion about it, "Here's your last gift." She hands over a small box and I hastily change back and grab the gift.

"At least she keeps her clothes when she changes," Emmett mumbles.

"It appears as if it materializes into her skin, and then returns when she becomes human again. I still cannot figure out how she does that," Carlisle says perplexed, staring at me curiously. I ignore them and open my new gift. I pull the cover open to see a necklace. It is made of silver and is delicate and shiny. The gem is blue in color with the silver encompassing it. I recognize that this is the necklace that usually adorns Esme's neck and look back up to see Esme soundlessly and gracefully sitting down next to me.

"I want you to have it. It was one of the few things I had when I was turned, a connection to my human life. I…" Her eyes furrow and she looks down deep in thought, appearing as if she is stuck in a memory. "I don't remember how I got it or who I got it from. Only that it was important to me. But now I think it's time to let go of that part of my life and embrace this life to its fullest. It's been 60 years now." Her voice trails off.

I grin at her, not really understanding her sentiment, before handing her the necklace to put on my neck.

She turns me around and latches it on my neck. Her hand trails down my shoulder lightly before she pulls back and disappears next to Carlisle. I look down at the necklace hanging so delicately on my neck and touch it gently, mesmerized by it, before letting it fall back down on my neck. I may not understand the sentiment behind it, but I understood one thing.

Esme letting this go was ending a time in her life, but it was a new beginning for me.

* * *

Credit for the Marine Iguana information is from wikipedia. I also realized I never put out a disclaimer, I only own Lily, SM owns everyone else.~


	5. Four No's

Hello, I hope you enjoy this chapter. Winnieeo beta's this story now. :)

* * *

Seven Years Later

"Lily, let's go. You have to go to school," Rosalie says from outside the room.

I whine and cross my hands over my chest pouting. I did not want to go to school.

"Come on Lily. It will be fun," Alice says, coming into the room.

I shake my head hard, my hair whipping my face. No way was I going to school. Alice frowns at me.

"Lily it will be so much fun. You will be able to be with kids the same age as you." My frown deepens. I did _not_ want to leave home. I wanted to stay with my family, not be strangers.

I stare down at the ground, refusing to look at any of them.

"She still pouting?" I hear Esme ask. The door creaks open and I see Esme's shoes from the edge of my vision; my glare deepens, my neck practically becoming one with my chest. Another pair of shoes enter my vision and then Rosalie drops down so that she is eye level with me. At least, she would be if my head was not connected with my throat at the moment.

"Lily, it will be fun. There will be kids your age there to be with. You shouldn't be stuck with adults all of the time."

"I don't want to." I whine, my voice comes out low and pitiful.

"I know. But you have to at least try it. If you don't like it after two weeks, we will pull you out and teach you like we have been." I look up excited by this. Rosalie smiles once she sees my face and stands up and reaches out her had for me to take. I look at it for a moment before grabbing it.

Before we go through the front door I look up at Rosalie and ask, "Promise?"

"Of course, Lily. We want you to be happy."

* * *

"I don't know what is wrong with her," the teacher says to Esme. I had to stay after school for a conference after school with my parents, or parent in this case. I had no clue why.

"She doesn't listen, she doesn't clean up when I tell her to, and she _never_pays attention. I have not had a student like her before in my entire life."

I sit at my desk playing with two Barbie dolls, listening in on the teacher's conversation.

"She distracts the other children also. All my children were well behaved before, but now they are wild banshees. They all follow her lead."

I hear shuffling and I start to push my Barbie dolls near each other and have a mini dialogue with the two Barbie's out loud.

"Well what do you want to do about it?" I hear Esme ask.

There is a pregnant pause before my teacher answers. "I think you should take Lily out of school until she… matures more and is able to function in a classroom better. Right now, all she is able to do is disturb everyone."

Esme remains quiet, contemplating this, before agreeing. They come out from the office door and Esme comes over to me, a weak smile on her face. "Come on Lily, it's time to go."

I drop my Barbie's where I am playing with them and grab her hand before we exit the door. While driving back, I watch Esme. She looks sad.

"Esme, am I going back to school?"

Esme glances over at me with a slight grimace, almost too quick for the eye to see.

"No sweet heart, you're not going back."

I frown at her, upset now. I liked school and all my friends. They all played with me and we could all play games together that we liked. The Cullen's always played boring games like baseball. But my friends at school played dolls with me, showed me games like hop scotch and jump rope, and we looked for bugs together.

"But I want to go back," I say to her.

"I know you do. But you can't."

"No," I say. " I _want_ to go back," I demand, embellishing the want.

"I know you do darling, but you can't. At least not for a while."

"When can I go back then?"

Esme is quiet again, her eyes not leaving the road once. "I'm… I'm not sure when you can."

"In a few days?" I ask hopefully.

"Nope."

"A few weeks?"

"No, not then either."

I remain silent, pondering this before asking, "How about in a month?"

"No."

I angrily throw my body in my chair then and start to cry. Esme sighs, and reaches over to pet my hair.

"I know you like school and I know you want to go back but, for now, you cannot go to school. Maybe next time we move you can go to school."

"No!" I yell at her. "If I can't go to school now, I don't wanna go then!" I sit still pouting in my seat after my exclamation, the tears drying on my face.

Esme remains silent for the rest of the way home.

* * *

"It seems she ages more slowly than humans do. According to the data I've collected so far, her aging two maybe three years is like a human aging one year."

I'm sitting in the doctor's office with Carlisle and Edward. They brought me here to do more tests on me. When we first came in, they saw that I was running everywhere and not standing still. They gave me a lollipop and said that if I stayed in my chair, I could keep it. I had not moved since.

"So, according to this data, her real age is around 18. But her mind and body's age is about… eight or nine?"

"Yes," Carlisle answers. "It makes sense why she appeared as if she was not aging very well." Carlisle shuffles the paperwork around, looking through it quickly.

"We still haven't found anything about her kind of shape shifting either," Carlisle says offhandedly.

By now I was starting to chew on the lollipop because it had gotten so small. Edward hears me chewing and grabs another lollipop from the jar. This time it is green. I take it from him and start sucking on it happily.

"I know there are more of her kind. Sometimes she dreams of the moment when she was separated from her family. It's appears as little glimpses of what happened. She lived in a community of sorts with other people like her. She played with her cousins a lot."

Carlisle peers up at him, a peculiar look on his face. "You can understand her mind when she sleeps?" he asks.

"Well I can understand it better," Edward explains**_._** "During the day her mind is everywhere. She thinks in colors a lot more than when we first got her, so that makes it harder to understand. I do not think there is any kind of pattern to the colors either. But at night, her mind is much calmer. There is less stimuli distracting her and usually she is not organizing everything so I am free to hear what she is thinking."

Carlisle remains silent for a few seconds, processing what Edward said.

"It appears that, if we want her to be able to function properly, we must teach her how to control her mind. You said it is calm during the night but uncontrollable during the day. This may just be something her particular breed of shape shifter must learn, like the Quileute's must learn to control their anger."

Edward nods, already knowing what Carlisle was going to say. They both look over at me at the same time, looking at my sticky face and hands, untied shoes, and dirty dress.

"I guess we should start teaching her that then."


	6. Nine Crayfish

Hello! Back for another chapter. Winnieeo betas my story starting from chapter four and up. If you have any questions, or if something is unclear to you, just send me a message or ask it in a review and I'll answer it in the next story I post. As always, SM owns Twilight.

* * *

Four Years Later

"Rosie are we leaving for the park yet?" I ask, sliding my shoes on in a hurry. I had started school for the first time this year and I was meeting one of my friends at the park to hang out.

I was now the equivalent of an 11 or 12 year old girl. Since Carlisle figured out that I needed to focus my mind, I have become a lot more controllable.

"Yes love, I'm ready. Let's go," Rosalie answers. I grab Rosalie's hand and we walk down the road. She would have driven but I prefer walking. I hated being boxed in a car.

We were going down the road to meet my best friend Anna. We had met each other during the summer after my family had moved. She lived not too far from our new home, and we both went to the playground a lot, so a friendship naturally happened. When school started, we found out that we both were in the same class, and that brought us even closer.

"What are you going to do with Anna today?" Rosalie ask curiously. All of the Cullens were happy that I now had a friend that was the same age as me.

"I'm not sure… I think we're gonna go play by the creek?" I say, half question, half answer.

"Be careful then. I know you can swim but I don't think Anna will be able to stay afloat if she falls in. She's not as strong as you."

"I'll grab her before she falls if she does. Besides, we're staying by the shallow part of the river," I assert with confidence.

Rosalie gives me an amused look. "If you say so," she finally answers.

I stick my tongue at her petulantly in answer, and she rolls her eyes.

The edges of the playground enter my vision and immediately drop Rosalie's hand and start running to the playground.

"I got it from here Rosalie!" I yell, excited to see if Anna is there yet. Rosalie only walked me here in the first place because it would look weird for an 11 year old to walk all that ways by herself all the time.

When I get to the playground, I see Anna swinging on the swing set and run over to join her. We swing in silence at first. It was such a nice day today, the sun was shining and there was a slight wind that made it that perfect kind of weather.

"Do you want to go to the creek now?" I hear Anna ask.

"Sure, let's go," I reply. I jump off my swing once it goes forward and Anna does the same. We dust ourselves off and start walking to the river. It was not too far from the park, just walk bit into the nearby forest and you run into it. I start to hear the rushing of water and, soon enough, we see the river. As soon as we get there, we go to the fallen log where we hid our bucket and grab it from between the up-ended tree roots we stuck it in.

"What do you think of Jaakop?" Anna asks.

I think about Jaakop, he is kind of short. He has brown eyes and hair, nothing about him really stuck out to me. He was on the quiet side too. "He's okay." I answer.

We take our shoes and socks off and wade in the shallows of the water. I start to turn over rocks, looking for crayfish. We liked to look for them and feed them to Anna's fish in her pond. Suddenly, curious about Anna's question, I turn around to ask her,

"Why?"

Anna continues working on the rock she is flipping over, her brow furrowed in concentration. Finally, it flips over and she waits for the water to clear before grabbing the crayfish. She shakes it at me, smiling.

"I found one!" she shouts.

I send a toothy grin back at her in response, one of my canines had recently fallen out leaving a gap in my mouth. She walks over to the bucket and fills it with water, before dropping the crayfish in.

"Oh yeah," she says as an afterthought once she drops the crayfish into the bucket. "I asked because Michael told Johanna who told me that he likes you."

_Jaakop likes me?_ I rethink my assessment of him. He never seemed to like me before. In fact, it was my personal belief that he actively avoided me. That or he was afraid of me.

"Who told Mihkel?" I ask, curious.

"Mihkel said that Jaakop told him. But he said not to tell anyone though," she replies, throwing her long hair up in a bun so that it would stop getting wet when she bends down. I had forgotten a hair tie.

I snort. Well that worked out for him, I think to myself. I find a flat rock and flip it over, waiting for the muddy water to clear. I find two crayfish there when it does. I hurriedly grab them both making sure to avoid the claws. I stick my tongue out at Anna teasingly, waving both in a supercilious manner.

"Lucky," she says pouting before going back to look for more.

"You know," Anna starts. "Kaja was teasing us the other day when you weren't there. She said we acted like children and we should grow up and stop rolling in mud puddles and stuff."

Kaja was this girl in our grade that was mean to the two of us during recess. She would have been mean to us more often, be she is not in our class. She had started being mean to us after Anna tripped her by accident. No matter how much we apologized, she still hated us. She even got our whole class to hate us for a whole week once. If she was in our class, I think I would go crazy.

"Don't listen to Kaja, she's mean," I reply, a bit angry. "She always says mean stuff to us, she's trying to bother us. At least, that's what my siblings say."

"You trust your siblings with everything." Anna quips, sounding annoyed.

"No I don't!" I quickly assert. "I don't trust Emmett, he's always trying to trick me." It was true, he was always trying to get me to fall for some trick of his.

"I don't trust any of my siblings. I don't even like them," she says petulantly.

Anna had an older brother in high school and a younger sibling that was two years old. Her brother was always mean to us and her little sister was always crying. Anna told me her parents used to pay a lot more attention to her before she was born, but now she said she is practically ignored.

"I don't like your older brother either. He's always a jerk to me," I say.

"He's a jerk to everyone, even my mom and dad. Dad says if he doesn't start behaving, he will send him to military school."

I laugh out loud at that, almost falling into the water. "I hope that happens," I say, thinking about all the times he was mean to me.

"I do too."

We continue to search for crayfish and, by the time we are finished, we have nine of them. Then, we start walking over to Anna's house so we can feed them to her fish and get home before dark. We reach the top of the hill where Anna lives. She lives on a small farm near the edge of town. We walk over to the pond and step on the floating boardwalk. Once I get close to the edge, I get on my hands and knees and peer into the water to see the fish. None are in sight though. Anna throws a rock in the water to alert them that we are there and quickly the fish greet us, swimming just beneath the water. I get off my hands and knees to grab a crayfish and throw it in. The water explodes and three fish jump out of the water to get the crayfish.

"Let's throw them all in at once so that the little ones have a chance too," Anna suggests.

I nod and she takes the whole bucket and dumps it into the water. By then, the sun is setting and pretty pinks, oranges, and reds were mixing beautifully in the sky.

"Do you want to eat over at my house tonight?" she asks as we start walking away from the pond.

I nod and we head over the short distance to her house. One we get inside, Anna yells from downstairs, asking if it is it okay for me to stay for dinner. Her mother quickly walks down the stairs telling us to be quiet because the baby is sleeping, but agrees

"Is dad home yet?" Amanda asks.

"Yes, he's upstairs getting dressed. He just got out of the shower," her mother replies.

"Can I call my mom?" I ask, referring to Esme. Amanda's mom nods and I go to the phone to tell my family where I am and when to pick me up. As I do this, Anna's mother grabs an oven mitt to pull out the food from the oven and places it on the table. She then gets the soup off the stove and places it on the table next to the other item of food. By then, I had finished my conversation. I hear Anna's father walking down the steps. We all greet him when he sits down at the table with us.

"Why is Sofia asleep?" I ask, referring to Anna's two year old sister. Usually she was still up at this time.

"She fell asleep early today. She was up all night last night because she was sick, so I don't want to wake her."

"My brother is at his friend's. He's spending the night. Thank god," Anna says, her eyes looking up at the ceiling in sarcasm. Her parents just shake their heads at her in amusement.

We all start to serve ourselves and pass the food around the table.

"So I hear you haven't always lived in Estonia," Anna's dad says, trying to start a conversation.

Right now we were living in Estonia in a small town not too far from the sea. Edward and Alice had starting teaching me Estonian a little more than a year before we moved here. Most people here speak English too but they wanted to make sure that I would be able to understand the teacher in school and not be behind in class because of a language barrier.

"Yes," I say, clearing my throat, "Before I lived in England."

"Did you like it there?" he asks, looking intrigued.

"I like it here better." When I lived in England, I was not allowed to go to school and had no friends besides the Cullen's.

"Of course you like it here better, Estonia is a great country." Her dad replies, Estonian pride shining through.

"Did you live anywhere else?" her mother asks.

"I did, but I don't remember where and never thought to asked," I reply. That was before my "sane period" as I like to call it. All my memories from that time are all jumbled and mixed up.

"So you speak English and Estonian?" her father asks.

I nod, before adding, "Edward wanted to teach me Spanish, but once he learned we were moving to Estonia my family started teaching me Estonian."

"That worked out perfect for you then," Anna's mother says, referring to how Estonians speak English and Estonian. Some of them speak Russian also, but Estonian was more important to learn. Of course, I had learned a few words and phrases in Russian, but I was no where near fluent. I was not even conversational in Russian.

"Yes," I answer simply.

We finish dinner and pick up all our plates. Once we are finished with that, Anna and I quietly go upstairs to her room, mindful of her little sister sleeping. If she woke up, she would start screaming, and we did _not_ want that. We played with her Barbie's until I got picked up by Carlisle later that night.

"Did you have fun today?" Carlisle asks once I get in the car.

I nod, pulling my seat belt on. It is quiet while we drive home. Suddenly I ask, "How long are we going to live here?"

Carlisle thinks on the question. Finally, he says, "I'm not sure. Maybe three or four years? You don't grow as fast as a normal human and we don't age."

I frown at his answer. "How about five?" I bargain. I liked it here and I wanted to stay forever. I had friends here and I enjoyed speaking Estonian. I had caught onto it quickly.

Carlisle peers at me, watching me carefully. "Do you think you will be able to pass for a tenth grader with the body of a 12 or 13 year old?" he points out.

"There are people who are underdeveloped and have no boobs," I say, pouting and slouching in my chair.

He peers at me again, silent. "We will have to take it year by year Lily."

He could take it year by year, but I had made my mind up about staying here for as long as possible. I would stretch this stay out for as long as I could. I never know when I will have another chance like this to have friends.

* * *

If I have made any mistakes about Estonia, message me or leave me a review saying what I messed up and I will fix it. I have never lived in Estonia. Also, I just looked back at my old story that I recently picked back up and realized I named this character the same thing I named my other character. This character is Lily and my other one is Lillianna, but Lilly for short. Not much of a difference. This makes me want to go back through this story and rename her. What do you guys think? Should I rename her, or just let it be?

Uggh, I can't believe I didn't notice before while writing the chapter for the other story earlier this week...


	7. Seven Days of Wishes

So far everyone wants her name to stay Lily, so I'll keep her name that. JacobluvsLily444 your user name touched me so much. 3 I decided to upload another chapter since I'm writing chapter 10 right now and this is only chapter 7. Winnieeo betas this story, and SM owns twilight.

* * *

Four Years Later

"Hurry up, get under the blankets," Anna whispers. Leena giggles under the blanket and I quickly run to turn the light off before jumping under the covers. One of them turns the flashlight on and Anna and Leena's faces greet me in the incandescent light. Leena had joined our duo two years ago, and we had been inseparable ever since.

"Hand me some of the candy," I whisper to Leena.

We were having a sleepover at Anna's since her house had the most room between her and Leena, especially since her brother had recently moved out.

"How did you guys do on that test today?" I ask.

Leena groans at the mention of it, slapping a hand on her forehead. "I don't wanna talk about it, my parents are gonna kill me."

"I'm not sure how I did, I think I passed it though," Anna says unsure.

"I… think I did well on it. Edward helped me a lot." Edward is usually my go to person when I need help with school work.

"You're lucky, your brother is so smart," Leena whines, plopping another piece of candy in her mouth.

"And hot," Anna mutters under her breath. Leena snickers and rolls her eyes. I was already used to comments like this by now.

"Edward isn't a people person," I state simply.

"Your whole family aren't people persons, except you and your mom and dad," Leena adds as an afterthought.

"Tell us why we can barely ever go to your house again? And, when we do, almost all of your siblings are gone." As a safety precaution, we did not let my friends over, especially with Jasper still battling all his demons. For some reason my blood does not appeal to them when I get hurt. I did not smell good or bad to them, I had a neutral smell.

"Well," I start slowly. "Esme is a clean freak and does not like anything dirty. She is afraid her house will be vandalized by all of us by the time everyone is gone." My family sat down one day and tried to think of a reason why they could not come over because my friends kept pestering me about it. All we could come up with was that.

"Tell us about your new boyfriend Peeter, Lena," Anna says with a smirk on her face.

Leena blushes, beet red, and starts playing with a string hanging off one of the sheets nervously. "He's very nice, and he's smart too. He helped me on my math test last week and I got an A." I was impressed, I hate math with a passion.

"Tell him to tutor me too then, I'm horrible at math," I mutter sadly.

"You have your brother though," Leena says, sticking her tongue out at me.

I sigh and nod. It was true I have him to help tutor me, but I get tired of hearing his voice all the time. There is only so much you can take of a person. He practically knew everything, which sometimes annoys me to no end. He was almost never wrong.

"I'm so glad this year is almost over, I can't wait to graduate," says Leena. I did not blame Leena for wanting to leave; her family struggled a lot to make ends meet. She started looking for a job to help out her family but has not been successful yet. She hopes to get one during the summer though.

"Oh yeah, that reminds me. My dad said if you can't find anything when school ends, he'll help you to get a job cleaning at the hospital. It's not the most desirable of jobs but he said if you really want one he can help you get that," I say.

Leena looks up at me, surprised.

"You mean it?" she softly asks.

I nod, and she practically barrels me over in a hug.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" she whispers over and over again.

"It's not me that got you the job, it's my dad," I reply, embarrassed. I only mentioned it in a conversation once, and he suggested it.

"I know. But, without you, I wouldn't have a chance at job at all," she answers, getting off of me.

"You ruined our fort" Anna utters dejectedly, pulling at the sheets. The sheets were no longer above our heads, and they were pushed sideways so that me and Leena are now uncovered.

I hear a door creek open down the hall, followed by footsteps in the hall. Knowing that it is Anna's mom, I whisper to them,

"Turn the flashlight off, your mom is coming!"

We hurry and turn it off, hide the candy under our pillows, and lay down. The door creaks open. Nervously, I make sure not to move a muscle. After a few seconds, it closes again. I hear footsteps down the hall and then a door close.

"Okay she's gone now," I breathe out.

We relax then, but leave the flashlight off.

"You must have super hearing or something. You always know when mom is coming," Leena laughs.

I chuckle nervously. I was always the one to warn when parents were coming. I guess it did help to have super hearing.

Silence rings heavily in the air. All of us are tired by now.

"Guys?" I hear Anna say in the darkness. I peer over at her and make out the outlines of her face against the different shades of black.

"Yeah?" Leena and I whisper back to her.

"I want us to make a promise," Anna demands. She turns her body toward us, trying to look at us in the dark.

"Promise what?" questions Leena.

"I want us to promise that no matter what we'll always be best friends, and we'll never forget each other no matter what happens," Anna says softly. In the dark, I can see her worrying her lip.

"I promise," Leena whispers, searching for our hands in the darkness. Once she finds them, she holds them tightly.

I think about what Anna said. I want to promise that we would always be best friends, but I have no clue how much longer I had left here. It has already been four years. I never told them that I would move one day. Every time I tried to, I just choked up and ended up saying something else. I wanted to mean this promise if I said it.

"I… I promise no matter what happens you two will always be my best friends."

* * *

"Lily, we're moving."

"No!" I scream, "We're not moving."

"Yes, we are," Carlisle replies patiently. I have been arguing with him about this non-stop for the past hour now. Today, I had my last exam for ninth grade and as soon as I got home they dropped this on me.

"_I'm _not moving. You, on the other hand, can do whatever _you_ want," I say irritably, folding my arms across my chest. I am not leaving. They will have to drag my dead body if they want me to go with them.

"We're leaving," Rosalie says from the hallway. "We already started packing your stuff."

"What?!" I shriek, my voice reverberating throughout the house.

I run to my room where I see my whole dresser already packed up, and Alice in the closet packing my clothes at supersonic speed.

"Stop!" I yell, tears starting to form in my eyes. She packs the bag. I unpack it. She packs it again, and I unpack it again. It was a never ending process. Finally, I give up, throwing the clothes in my hand on the floor.

"Carlisle!" I scream, "Why can't we stay here another year?!"

"Because people are already questioning our aging. You're alive and they still question you, let alone us. I already put this off for a year when you begged last year to stay. I cannot do it again."

I give up and sit on the floor with my head on my knees, my long hair hiding my face, and start to cry silently. I feel a hand on my back and I mumble out loud, "leave me alone," before turning my head the opposite way.

"Why didn't you have the audacity to tell me this? Why couldn't you have told me this earlier?" I ask, defeated and dejected.

"Because we did not want this to drag on for you. We knew if we told you sooner it would only nag at you, and you would not enjoy your time here like you would have," Esme answers softly, rubbing circles on my back.

"When do we leave?"

"Tomorrow." My head shoots up in shock and I stare at them.

"Tomorrow!?" I yell shrilly. Jasper winces and I see Carlisle nod his head. I stand up quickly, furious.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN TOMORROW! NO, I AM NOT LEAVING TOMORROW. THAT'S NOT EVEN ENOUGH TIME TO SAY GOODBYE! GET OUT MY ROOM! OUT! OUT! OUT!" I scream, feeling betrayed. As soon as they all leave, I lay down on the floor and start sobbing uncontrollably.

"Lily?" Rosalie whispers from outside my door. I ignore her, I was mad at all of them right now. "Lily, we just wanted your last amount of time here to be happy," she mumbles.

"It wasn't happy," I cry out.

"Why not?" she ask, still behind the door.

"Because I didn't get to do all the things I wanted to do with them before I leave," I sob.

I hear whispers behind the door that I cannot make out. Then, there is a light knock on the door.

"Lily," Carlisle says. "If it is important for you to spend the last few days you have here the way you want, then one of us can stay behind with you for a week while the others go ahead."

My cries slow as I think it over.

"A week?" I finally question.

"Yes, a week."

I whisper my agreement to them. A week would have to do.

* * *

**Day 1**

"Why did you drag us back here anyways?" Leena questions, digging her feet into the river bed. I had dragged them here to search for crayfish like we used to. I still had not had the guts to tell them that I was leaving.

"Because," I say bending over to turn a rock. "We haven't done this in forever."

Leena sighs in response. Anna yells a few minutes later that she found one and plops it into the red bucket. Leena starts pulling on a big rock stuck in the mud. I ask her if she needs help, but she keeps tugging with a look of deep concentration drawn on her face. Finally, she gets the rock undone, but falls in the water in the process of doing so. A big splash is heard, and I feel droplets of water hit me from where I am standing. The muddy water from the disturbance surrounds her, and it is completely silent. Suddenly, Anna starts to giggle. She tries to stop it, covering her mouth, but the noise still comes out. Leena glares at her. I start giggling too. Leena tries to keep the glare on her face but it starts to relax into a grin on its own accord.

She gets up, laughing and soaking wet, shouting at us, "You think this is funny?"

We just start to laugh harder.

All of a sudden, she splashes at us and we shriek, giggling all the while. We all start to splash each other then, creating one big water fight. At the end of the day, we lay in the grass, soaked and tired, watching the sunset in the sky.

"I've never actually watched a whole sunset before," Leena admits.

"You have to do it at least once in your lifetime, it's so beautiful," Anna whispers.

I agree with her. Even with my good vision, I do not think I could ever do justice to drawing this. Even a picture could never be as pretty as actually watching the real thing. We lay in the grass, itchy and soaked though until the sun sets, the red bucket near the edge of the stream overturned and forgotten.

* * *

**Day 2**

"Where are we going?" Leena asks for the hundredth time. Esme continues to drive, a smile on her face.

"I'm not telling you. You'll see when we get there." We drive for another half hour before Esme turns into a long driveway with a sign above it that read, "Kassari Ratsamatkad."

Anna gasps, understanding where we are, and turns to me shocked.

"You didn't," She states.

"No she didn't," Leena blurts out shocked.

I smile big at them, and Esme parks in one of the empty spots in the parking lot.

"Oh my gosh, I always wanted to ride horses!" Anna screeches. Anna starts crying out of joy, and I grab her and wrap my arms around my neck holding her. Leena joins us, draping her arms around both of us. It was a personal dream of Anna's to ride a horse. We all wanted to, but for her it was something much bigger and monumentous.

"I know, we all wanted to ride horses," I reply. Anna starts to get excited then, pushing herself out of our arms, she tugs us toward the entrance impatiently.

"Come on let's go," she says, dragging us. We laugh, allowing her to drag us along.

* * *

"Smile," Esme says.

We all smile happily on our horses and the camera snaps. We had been riding all day and now it was almost time to leave. Esme had been snapping pictures all day.

"How did it turn out?" Leena asks anxiously, running her fingers through her hair.

The photo prints out of the camera and Esme hands it to Leena. Anna and I pull our horses on either side of her so we can look at it together. Our beaming faces stared back at us. We all looked so happy and carefree. I take the photo from Leena's hand to get a closer look, and I smile. Now I would always have a reminder of this day for the rest of my life.

* * *

**Day 3**

"What is up with you lately? First looking for crayfish, next going horseback riding, and now the playground?" Anna asks. I shrug in response. Leena and Anna were still sore from horseback riding. I stopped being sore once I woke up this morning.

"I dunno," I reply, kicking up gravel every time my swing came near the ground. "I just want to spend time with you guys."

"We haven't gone to this playground in about a year," Leena says. We used to go to the playground all the time, it was out hangout place.

"I know, which is why we should do this," I reply. Both of them give me odd looks, but don't say anything. We continue to swing, talking about random things like friends do. But something is irking me.

I still have not had the guts to tell them I am leaving.

* * *

**Day 4**

"Guys, I have something to say." We were at Anna's house, painting our nails and reading magazines in Anna's room.

"Okay," Leena answers. "You have my undivided attention." She stops painting her nails and places the nail polish to the side. Anna keys in, waiting for me to continue. I take a deep breath before starting, unsure how to begin.

"I'm leaving," I blurt out. Well I guess that is one way to say it. They both stop and stare at me confused.

"You're leaving?" Anna asks, a confused look on her face.

"Yes," I whisper, tracing one of the wood patterns on the floor with my index finger.

"Do you mean like… for good?" Leena asks lowly.

I nod, not daring to look up at them. Silence fills the room; it was so silent that you could hear a pin drop on the floor, with or without superb hearing. Leena begins to sob then, followed by Anna. Then I start to cry with them. We crawl to each other and grab each other tightly, crying together.

"When are you leaving?" Anna asks, pulling back from me. Her voice had hitched and tears had started to fall faster.

I finally reply, regretting my answer, "In three days."

Leena's chest hitches and broken sobs break out from her. "But I need you, I need you to be here with me to talk to and tell things I would tell no one else, I need to be here when I cry and no one seems to understand but you, I need to be here to pull my head out my ass when I'm being stubborn, I'll always need you," Leena says, barely understandable through her cries. I was the one Leena had always went to whenever she had hardships, she said that I understood better.

We are all crying now, holding each other, feeling empty. Anna is not able to say anything through her gasping cries. I pull back to look them in the face. Their faces are red and blotchy, with strands of hairs sticking to their faces where trails of tears were at.

"I'll always be there for you though. Not like now, but I'll be there. You can always call me, we will make this work," I cry.

My words felt so empty though. How could words spoken over a phone be like the hand gestures and hugs of comfort we gave each other when we were down, the expressions our faces made at certain explanations or ideas, the physical presence of each other? It could not, and we all knew it.

The rest of the night, we just hold each other in comfort, refusing to leave each other's arms. We fall asleep like that, wrapped tightly around one another.

* * *

**Day 5**

Today we had decided to just stay at Anna's house and watch all our favorite movies together. Right now, we are on Cinderella.

"That evil old hag," Leena mumbles under her breath, referring to the evil step-mother.

We are still sticking together like last night, all underneath one blanket, our knees touching and hands laced together. Right now, the evil step-mother is telling Cinderella she could not go to the ball. We all cry, emotional from my reveal last night. When the movie is over, Anna walks over and puts E.T. in. We stay silent throughout the movie, this one being a favorite of all of ours.

My mind drifts off and I wonder to myself, can I actually make our friendship last? Esme pointed out yesterday on the phone when I told her that I would be staying over that she thought it would be best for us to slowly drift apart. We are too different. Physiologically that is. When I'm 20, they'll be in their 40's; when I'm 30, they'll be in their 60's. I would have to watch them die, while I would feel like I was frozen in time. Still young, still coherent, still beautiful.

Still alive.

I could not imagine watching them slowly deteriorate like that before my eyes, it would kill me. Esme suggested letting our friendship fade out naturally, she said distance can do a number to relationships if you do not actively go out of your way to preserve them. I wish I could grow old with them and die together, but I could not.

I was not human, not like them.

It was time for me to realize this. Ever since coming here I had acted human, barely participating in my more animalistic urges. Sometimes it drove me insane, my body wishing for the sweet release turning into an animal gave it, but too often I denied it. It was time for me to be who I was supposed to be.

* * *

**Day 6**

"Are you sure you have to go?" Anna asks, her eyes big and round in sadness, a slight gloss to them.

We are in my room packing up the rest of my clothes and toiletries that had been left for me to use.

"Yes, I wasn't supposed to stay this long in the first place," I answer, folding one of my sweat shirts.

Tears gather in her eyes, but she remains strong and does not allow them to fall.

"You're gonna call us right?" Leena asks, watching me as I mechanically fold and place my clothes in a simple black suit case.

"Of course," I reply. "I'm gonna call you as soon as I get off the plane to my new house."

Leena nods jerkily, her emotions still skewed.

I am still going to try to keep in touch with them. Cutting off all contact right away would be too painful. I need them right now in my life. Anna randomly picks up a shirt on the floor, staring at it, dazed for a moment. Then she folds it carefully, wiping away any wrinkles, and places it into my bag. When she looks into my eyes, I can finally see the acceptance of my leaving burning in them.

* * *

**Day 7**

Leena and Anna hug me as we stand near the car. They had come to watch me go.

"Send postcards."

"Send nick-knacks from Spain." Spain was my family's new destination.

"I will. Of course, I will," I promise.

"Send letters written with love."

"Call us."

"Stalk hot guys."

"Okay, okay," I say overwhelmed. I pull back from them to look at their faces. They look fragile. One wrong word and the damn holding back their tears would be broken. I feel the same way, of course. I hurriedly pull them back to me in a tight hug, trying not to cry. I know once one of us starts crying, we all would.

"I love you guys," I whisper, my voice slightly breaking.

"We love you too," Anna answers. Leena remains quiet, breathing in my scent for comfort. Then she pulls back, studying my face. I see her face finally change to acceptance. I was worried she would not accept me leaving before I got on the plane. And I knew that would be more painful for her.

"No regrets?" she asks.

"No regrets," I reply.

I had done everything I wanted and possibly could do in the week I had with them. I will never forget it, I will never forget them. Who knew how long I could live? For all we know, I might stop aging once I hit maturity. We knew nothing about my species and learned everything about me through trial and error.

"Okay girls, we have to get going or we might miss the plane," Esme interrupts, sending us a sad look. We disentangle ourselves once more, studying each other's faces to make sure we do not forget them.

"Okay, I'll call you," I say.

Both girls nod their heads quickly, like bobble heads. I slowly start to back up from them, trying hard not to cry. Anna's face twitches and she grabs me in another hug, tightly, and then lets go. I start to back up, waving at them. They start to wave back and their parents step up beside them putting their arms around them in comfort. They wave as well. When I get about 20 feet from them, I turn around for one last glance. Then I don't look back. I knew, if I did, I would burst out crying and never stop.

I still could not stop that one lone tear from falling down my face.

.


	8. Five Years Later

I read the Twilight series quite a while ago, so all the details are kind of fuzzy. If I get a detail wrong, just correct me and I'll fix it. Thanks to Winnieeo for Beta'ing my story and thanks for all the reviews last chapter!

* * *

Five Years Later

Since moving from Estonia we had traveled from place to place, going wherever it pleased us to go. We posed as wanderers, not staying long in any particular town. It suited me fine. I did not want to create another friendship with a human. The ones I had were painful enough. Leena and Anna had already graduated high school. Anna had gone on to college, but Leena was pregnant and married. It was an odd thought for me. They were already moving on with their lives, adults, while I was frozen in time. It did not suit me at all. I did not want to live forever.

Edward had taught me Spanish in his spare time. He seemed to have a love for the language and it pleased him to use it with me. Usually when we conversed it was in Spanish now. Alice tried to teach me French too, but by then I was tired of learning languages. Because of that, I was barely conversational in French. Although the little French I did know helped when we stayed in France for a few months one summer. It also helped with the many trips to France; Alice liked to drag me there so that she could see fashion week every now and then. I knew how to order food and ask for directions in French, and that was enough for me.

Now we were moving to America for the first time. Well, it was the first time for me. The Cullen's had been there quite a few times, and Jasper was from America. Our aim was always to live in small, under populated towns that had space for privacy and preferably overcast weather most of the time. So, Forks, Washington was the perfect spot in America. Carlisle said he had not been there in almost 100 years.

Last time they were there, there were wolves that guarded one of the nearby towns. Carlisle said he was not sure if they would reappear again or not. I hoped they would. I had never met a shape shifter before and was excited at the prospect of meeting one. I had met one werewolf though, a real one. We had run into him on a run, and he was not the most courteous of people. He was dirty, stank something horrible, and seemed as if he had not seen civilization in decades. It almost came to a fight, since werewolves and vampires did not get along. The werewolf could not understand how I could want to stay with the Cullen's. He did not know them like I did though. He only saw danger and the enemy when he looked at them while I saw warmth and a home. After that meeting, Carlisle explained the history between the two and I started to understand the deep set hatred they seemed to have for each other. Well actually the werewolf for the most part.

We had also visited a group of Vampires in Alaska called the Denali clan. They were vegetarian vampires like the Cullen's, one of the very few vampires that were so. I had liked conversing with Eleazar. He had a lot of knowledge. Carlisle did too, but he was more quiet about his whereas Eleazar would tell you stories and give you sayings that you would have to puzzle over and stretch out your mind to figure out. The Denali Clan had found me fascinating, but when we left Carlisle asked them not to speak of me. They did not want the Volturi finding out about me, they were not sure what would happen.

We turn into a dirt-paved road that was barely noticeable from the main road. The road was long with many curves. The surrounding forest was thick and teaming with life. We drive through one more bend and a house greeted us. It is a glass house, something I had never seen before. I peered over to Rosalie who was driving and arched an eyebrow.

"Esme wanted a change?" I asked inquisitively. Rosalie snorts and answers,

"Alice and Esme wanted to try something different this time. We can afford to do it since we're in the middle of nowhere this time with no prying eyes."

All the others had gone ahead of us to get the house ready. Rosalie and I took our time getting here. We pulled into the garage and I pushed the door open, looking around in the basement. So far this place looked beautiful.

"Did you guys decorate my room, or did you leave it to me?" I asked, walking to the garage door and opening it. I knew they all could hear me from where I was at.

Inside the house was just as beautiful. It was wide and open with lots of natural sunlight teeming through the windows. Esme was fluttering about, putting last touches here and there around the living room.

"Alice had a vision of your room, so she decorated it based on that." My eyebrows go up in surprise. Alice did not have a lot of visions about me. I started walking towards the stairs, quickly wanting to see my room.

"Which door is it?" I question, once at the top of the stairs.

"Second to the left," replies Esme.

I count the doors and once I get to the second door on the left, I stop. The door is cracked open slightly, and I pause before softly nudging the door open. The walls were light blue and white, but Alice had created it so that it had a marbled effect. The floor was dark colored wood and the ceiling textured and white in color. It was spacious and a queen sized bed was in the center of the room with the head board against the wall. The head board was the same type of wood the floor was and the sheets were light blue and white checkers. Behind the headboard was a painting of a few birds species that they knew I liked. My dresser was near the wall that was of all windows, my toiletries already laid out on it.

I notice Alice in the closet, hanging up some of the clothes I have and go over to hug her, wrapping my arms around her small frame. I was finally taller than her, and I now stood at 5'7". I also now had more of an athletic build where before I had a bit of baby fat.

"Thank you Alice," I whispered. I let her go and she shakes me off with the flick of a hand.

"Oh, no problem. It was easy for me." She grabs the last article of clothing and hung it before disappearing through the door, softly closing it behind her.

My room was bright and open. I went to the wall that was entirely made of window and looked out. All I could see was the dark greens of the forest, the trees slightly swaying with the wind. The clouds were turning grey, signaling a storm was coming. I laid back and plopped onto my bed, getting comfortable. I was actually going to school this time. I had stopped once I left Estonia, except for one year I went in Spain. I was going to be entering ninth grade. Technically I was in tenth grade since that was the last year I completed, but we wanted to stay here for a while so we were posing as younger. All my siblings had decided to go to high school again too. I have no clue why they would want to do high school over and over again, but if it worked for them who was I to judge. I think Emmett would rather stay home and play video games though. He had discovered them about two years ago and was now obsessed with them. I hear my door creek and glance toward the door. Esme's head peaked through. She smiled and opened the door all the way, and then sat down on the edge of my bed.

"Are you ready for school?" Esme asks, a kind smile on her face. I paused, thinking about the question.

"I think I'll be fine as long as I stick with my siblings," I reply.

Like I said before, I did not want to get too close to humans, it would only end painfully. I had visited Leena and Anna twice so far. It was always a joyous occasion, but how much older they looked compared to me made me flinch. It was not too noticeable to them yet, but it would be in time. We kept in contact still, but we only called each other about once every one or two months now. Esme said that time would lengthen and more time passed by. I did not know how to feel about that.

"Did you brush up on your schooling with Edward?" asked Esme.

We had wanted to make sure I was on the right level since there were gaps in my education.

"Yes, Edward said I was caught up now," I answered.

Esme brushed a stray strand of midnight black hair out of my face and kissed my forehead before leaving. I started nodding off, the sound of the storm lulling me to sleep.


	9. One New School

Hello! I'd like to thank the two of you that reviewed my last chapter. 3

Right now, I'm working on chapter 20; so I'm quite a bit ahead of you. I had already had a plan for this story, but I ended up scraping a major part of my story. I guess I'll eventually use it for another one. I don't think I'd forget it since it's so different. :D

* * *

"Was there a school here last time you lived here?" I ask Edward.

We were in Edward's car driving to school. I was in the front seat with him and Rosalie and Emmett were in the back together. Since we all didn't fit, Alice drove to school with Jasper in another vehicle.

"There was. It was small though, and very different from the way it looks now," he replies, pulling into the school.

For grade levels, we had decided that Edward, Alice, and I would be in ninth grade and Jasper, Emmett, and Rosalie would be in tenth grade. Alice parked next to us and we all got out of the car. I haul my backpack over my shoulder, waiting for the others to get out. As we walk to the front office, everyone stares at us and whispers.

"Who do you think they are?"

"She is so hot."

"Those must be the new kids the office was talking about."

I tuned them out as we walked into the building, uninterested in what they had to say. We got into the front office ask for our schedules. The receptionist tells us a few of the school rules and then asks if we need help getting around. She particularly kept her eyes on the guys when she said that bit. I snickered under my breath and Jasper elbows me in the ribs, fighting a smile himself. We leave the office together and go our separate ways to our lockers. Emmett's locker isn't too far from mine. I send a wave to him before glancing down at my schedule.

1st Period- American History with Mr. Burner

2nd Period- Gym with Coach Clapp

3rd Period- Integrated Science with Mrs. Caile

4th Period- Algebra I with Mr. Strider

5th Period- Lunch

6th Period- English with Mrs. Reed

7th Period- Spanish II Ms. León

I had to take a language here to graduate. There was only French and Spanish, so I took the easy way out and picked Spanish, something that peeved Alice greatly. Carlisle told the office that I knew some Spanish after living there a bit, so they put me in Spanish II. I was not happy with having Gym so early in the day, but I guess I would have to deal with it. I look through the tiny window in the door of my first period class. The students there are rowdy, throwing paper balls at each other, except a few in the back with their hoodies pulled over their head and their heads down on the desk. I sigh, before opening the door. Once I get inside, there is a lull in the conversation. People start whispering to each other.

"That's the new girl."

"I wish I had legs like that."

"She looks different from her siblings."

I roll my eyes and sit in the back next to one of the people with their head on the desk. I focused on making myself look as unapproachable as possible. I was not looking for a friendship after all. I guess it worked since no one said anything to me the entire class period. In fact, they barely looked at me and avoided eye contact. Except one girl that is. She was two desks down from me. She kept glancing at me, and whenever our eyes would meet she would not break eye contact. It was odd, but not everyone would act the same I suppose. The bell rings and I go through the rest of my classes the same way. The girl was in a few of my classes, always staring at me.

It was weird.

* * *

3 Days Later

"What's your name?" the girl asks that has been staring at me all the time.

I ignore her, figuring she is talking to someone else. Then I feel a slight poke in my shoulder. A bit annoyed, I pick my head off of the desk and see the odd girl that likes staring at me in front of me. I arch an eyebrow at her, not amused at all.

"You don't know my name?" I ask.

She flushes at my tone, but recovers quickly.

"How else was I supposed to start a conversation with you?"

"By not starting one at all," I reply.

I pull my hoodie over my head again and put my head back down on the desk. It is silent for a minute, and I start to think for a second that she will leave me alone, but then I hear her ask,

"How come you and your siblings don't talk to anyone?"

I groan and pull my head back up. When I do, I notice we have an audience. Everyone is listening into our conversation. I put a glare on my face and everyone looks away. The conversation picks back up pretty quickly in the room after that.

"It's our choice," I finally answer, "Besides, you do the same."

It was true. I had never seen her hang out or talk to anyone.

She turns a light pink, looking embarrassed.

"It's not my choice. Why would anyone want to be alone?" she whispers, not looking me in the eye.

I had heard the rumors about her, who could not have heard them? Rumors of her being a whore, a boyfriend stealer, a cheater; just about every negative rumor was about her. Did I know if they were true? To be honest, I did not care enough to know or find out. It had nothing to do with me and was none of my business.

"What do you mean it's not your choice?" I whisper back.

Sure, there were a lot of negative rumors about her, but I did not think that would stop her from having friends. Even the worst of people have friends.

"I mean… I don't have friends. No one wants to be my friend," she replies softly.

She appears embarrassed, still not looking me in the face. She takes her finger and traces the wood pattern on the desk with a look of concentration.

I feel bad for her, I really do, but being her friend would not end up well.

"Why are you telling me this?" I ask, perplexed, staring at her curiuosly.

"I thought it would be obvious," she says lowly.

So she did want to be friends. She must have been pretty desperate to ask me to be friends with her.

"Why would you want me, of all people, to be your friend?"

I mean, it is not like I was very welcoming or forthcoming. In fact, I made sure I was not. I went out of my way to appear like a stuck up ass hole.

"Well… you don't look at me like they do?" she answers, ending it with a question mark.

She starts to twiddle with her thumbs then. It seemed like a nervous habit.

"I don't… look at you the same way?" I ask, confused.

"Well," she clarifies, "All of them look at me different. Like… like I'm not even human or have any feelings. All they do is gossip about me, make fun of me, pretty much anything to make me miserable. Most of them don't even know me and they just believe the rumors. But you don't look at me like that, or avoid me like the plague. You don't even seem like you care."

I did not care about petty rumors floating around the school. They did not affect me so why should I?

"I don't care about the rumors," I finally answer. Her face brightens and she smiles at me.

"I knew you didn't! I be-"

"But!" I interrupt, "That doesn't mean I want to be your friend. I'd rather just stick with my siblings."

She looks taken aback, mulling over this. She suddenly folds her hands on the desk, and leans forward with a resolute look on her face.

"You're gonna be my friend," she says. I stare at her incredulously.

"I'm going to be your friend?"

"Yes, you're gonna be my friend." She sounds like she is demanding it now. Her face is so sure of this.

"I don't think so," I reply, trying to brush her off.

"Why?" she asks. She leans forward again, giving me her full, undivided, attention.

"Because… I… there's lots of people in this school. I'm sure someone wants to be friends with you," I stumble out, starting to get flustered.

"Nope," she says, popping the p. "I tried, but I gave up. You're gonna be my best friend now."

I sigh, giving up on convincing her otherwise. I was just going to ignore her, eventually she would go away.

* * *

"Do you want to go to the movies?"

"No"

"What about Port Angeles?"

"No"

"The beach?"

"Not that either."

It was two days later, and that girl was still following me. I had found out her name was Sheeva in that time. I knew it had started with a S….

"What about hiking?"

"No"

"Ummm, cliff diving?"

"N- what?!" I ask, shocked. She looks happy to finally get a rise out of me.

"Cliff diving," she repeats. "The natives on the Quileute reservation started it, and now some of the Forks kids do it."

I stare at her. I did not think any sane human would cliff dive.

"You cliff dive?" I ask.

"I've done it before. It's a bit scary, but not too bad."

"Have you ever gotten hurt before?"

"Nope, I don't think anyone has yet."

Cliff diving. I have never done it before. Well, I had but it was so long ago and I was so young that I barely remember it.

"Is that a yes?" she asks, hopeful.

Suddenly one of the guys on the football team slams into Sheeva while walking by. She falls to the ground, her papers littered all over the floor.

"Look at the whore, she's on the floor where she belongs." All of his football buddies laugh at that, nudging and pounding each other on the back.

"You wanna give me a blowjob? It's what your best at right?" Another one of his friends says.

All of the footballers laugh louder, making more quips about it.

The other students in the hall were simply ignoring it or laughing with them. I look down at Sheeva on the floor. She is just sitting there staring at the paper-covered ground, her eyes big. Probably to stop herself from crying.

"Yeah she shou-"

"How about you shut the hell up," I say angrily. All of them stop laughing, and look at me surprised.

"I've had it up to here with this crap. All you do is bother her. She doesn't even try to fight back, she just takes it. What is wrong with you? Are you even human? Do you realize she is a person with feelings? Do you know that? Because obviously you don't. You're all children that think you're adults, and think this is all fun and games. What happens when this becomes real? What happens if one day she's taken too much and kills herself? Will it be funny then? Will you laugh and nudge each other and give each other high fives then? I don't think so. You would live with that the rest of your life. You will probably already live with this the rest of your life. That one girl in high school you made fun of. That one girl you degraded to make a few jokes with your buddies in your free time. You all need to grow up and realize someone's feelings isn't a laughing matter, and treating someone like a dog is not human."

By the end of my rant I am breathing hard, and I can feel that my face is flushed. I look every single football player in the eye. Most look abashed, and look away when I do. One or two still look arrogant, but I send a glare their way and their faces quickly change.

"Now go!" I demand, pointing towards the door and giving them my best glare.

They all but run to the door. I look around to see most of the student population watching me.

"What are you waiting for? The show is over!" I growl at them irritated.

Immediately the hallway starts bustling again, students heading toward their classes with fresh gossip. Jasper is leaning on one of the lockers, a smirk on his face. He saunters over to me in all his southern drawl and whispers in my ear,

"I knew it would come to this. You always had a weak point when it came to this kind of stuff."

I scowl at him, and then glance down at Sheeva. She is still on the floor, sprawled in all of her papers; but her eyes are big and her mouth is hanging open, flabbergasted. I sigh, and reach a hand out to help her up. She just stares at it, her mouth still hanging open and eyes big. I shake my hand in her face and she blinks, closing her mouth, before grabbing it and pulling herself up.

"I'll leave you to it," Jasper says lowly, and starts walking to his last class. I watch him leave before turning back to her.

"No one has ever done that for me before," she blurts. Tears start forming in her eyes and I stare at her confused.

"Why are you crying?" I ask, "They're gone now."

She quickly grabs me and pulls me in a tight hug. She is just quiet, holding onto me. I can feel my shirt starting to get wet. I awkwardly place my arms on her shoulders in some semblance of a hug.

"I'm sorry," she says, pulling away from me. "I just, I knew from the minute I saw you that you would be a good friend."

I stare at her surprised. She was crying because I was a good friend? I was just doing what I thought _someone_ should do, and since no one else seemed to want to do it, I did.

Wait.

When did we become friends? I think back, just a few minutes ago she was a nuisance. But now… I did not know what to do. Would it really be worth it to have another friend? To go through what I went through with Leena and Anna?

Well I did not regret being their friend? How could I? It was one of the best times in my life. Our departure was painful, but I got so much from them; and I learned so much from them too. They taught me the things you cannot study in a book. Things that are hard to put into exact words. I would always love them. As painful as it will be to watch them grow old and whither, I regret nothing.

I reach down and start picking up Sheeva's papers, putting them into a small stack. She joins me, grabbing them all and trying to wipe the footprints off of them. When we are done I hand them to her and stand up. She grabs them and puts them in her backpack, sending a small smile at me. We then start going to our last class, one of the classes we have together.

"You know," I start, "I'm not sure how long I will be staying here."

Her face is thoughtful, but then resolution seems to fills it.

"I don't care. Anything is better than nothing."

My thought exactly, anything is better than nothing.


	10. Three Reasons

Hello! I want to thank my faithful reviewers JacobluvsLily444 and Bookluver1999. I love reading both of your reviews each chapter! Thanks to winnieeo for beta'ing my story. This story is turning out a lot longer than I thought it would. I'm finally in her junior year of high school when Twilight starts, so it will start picking up after that. I think people got confused with the time frame.

* * *

"If you had to choose between one of the Hemsworth brothers, which one would you choose?"

This one little question had gotten me into trouble. We were at Sheeva's house, eating popcorn and watching movies. She had made a comment about one of the Hemsworth brothers and I had no clue who they were.

She had looked at me like I had said something sacrilegious against the pope melodramatically admonished, "We are gonna have a movie marathon of all the good movies the Hemsworth brothers have been in because you have been deprived."

So far we've watched _Thor_, _The Avengers_, _Snow White and the Huntsman_, and was on _The Hunger Games_. She still wanted me to watch _The Last Song_ too. My brain was already going numb from watching so many movies in one sitting.

"So which one do you like better?" she asked, pausing the movie. I sat and thought on it hard because apparently this was a very important question.

"Umm… Liam?" I answered, or maybe I questioned. I was not sure at this point.

"Good! You like Liam, and I like Chris. Now we can marry them both and be sisters!" She squealed, clapping her hands together joyfully.

Oh god. I snorted, trying to stop from laughing. I finally gave up after a few seconds of sounding like a dying, rabid, raccoon because I was trying to keep from laughing. She threw a piece of popcorn at me, annoyed, before joining me in my laughter. After a while we settled down again and continued to watch the movie, but now we were both distracted. Sheeva was sitting on the couch with her arms wrapped around her legs, deep in thought.

"Did you ever question why they made fun of me or whether or not the rumors were true?" asked Sheeva, peering at me between the slit in her hair.

"No, not really. It was none of my business and had nothing to do with me," I replied honestly.

"I wish more people were like you," Sheeva said wishfully, blowing the strands of hair out her face.

"I'm kind of curious about it now though," I admit, curious now that she brought the subject up.

Sheeva was quiet for a while, the movie was still playing in the background. Flashes from the TV flickered on the wall, creating a bit of a melodramatic tone.

"Well it's all just a bunch of misunderstandings, if that's believable at all. I won't lie, I am a bit boy crazy; and yes, I do date a lot. But I'm not a cheater or a liar or anything like that." She pauses, watching me carefully before asking, "Do you know Tiffany?"

I nod in acquiesce to her question. Tiffany was a girl in our school that particularly hated Bridget. A lot of other people did not like Sheeva either, but Tiffany had it out for her.

"Well, in 7th grade she was dating Justin like she is now. I was invited to a high school party, and Justin was there. We were talking and he said he liked me. I asked about Tiffany and he said that they had broken up. So we started dating as he was still dating Tiffany. But I didn't know. I swear I didn't know they were still dating. About a week after we started dating, Tiffany found a text on his phone from me. She confronted him and he said that I was stalking him, and I had been trying to get him to break up with her. Of course, everyone believed him since they were really popular. A lot of people hated me afterwards and Tiffany told the school what I had 'supposedly' done."

I stared at her, shocked. That had to have sucked.

"What about your friends?" I asked.

She stared at the floor melancholy, and replied, "That's when I figured out my friends weren't really my friends."

"So all this happened because of that?"

"Well," she started off, "Not just that. I'm kind of free with myself. I do what I want and date who I want to date. So everyone started thinking and treating me like a whore. Some people have even tried to pay me money to sleep with them because they believed the rumors so much." She looked so sad after she admitted that. I wrap an arm around her and leaned my head on her shoulder to comfort her.

"Another guy at another school did the same thing to me too. It was after all this had happened, so I was sad and lonely. And he was there. He acted like he cared for me and listened to me and treated me kindly. But then one of the guys from here was friends with him, and he was telling his friends he was using me for sexual favors and how good I was in bed. After him, I sort of gave up on guys. Now I just do as I please."

"I'm sorry you had to go through that," I whispered on her shoulder. "One day, you'll find someone you're meant to be with and you'll be happy."

She plays with a bracelet on her wrist, turning it this way and that. Finally, she answers,

"I hope so."


	11. Two New Cheers

Hello! This is my next chapter. Thanks to winnieeo who betas my story. :)

Questions:

jafcbutterfly Jacob isn't even a werewolf at this point, he does not become a werewolf till her and Bella's senior year so during that year they will meet.

* * *

"I want to join the cheerleading squad."

I look at Sheeva, amused, as I place my lunch tray on the table and sit down next to her. Ever since I started hanging out with Sheeva, we had gotten our own table and I stopped sitting with my siblings.

"What's stopping you then?" I ask perplexed, arching an eyebrow at her in question.

She bites her lip nervously, swinging one leg onto the bench so that she is facing me. What is she so worried about? If she wants to join cheerleading it is not like I would stop her, she can do as she pleases.

"They'll just make fun of me and kick me off the team though," she demurred, looking down at the chair and not making eye contact with me.

"I can't do anything about it Sheeva. People are gonna make fun of you. I can't stop them all as much as I want to," I answer empathetically, understanding why she was so worried about it.

A smirk decorates her face and she says while still staring at the bench, "That's where you come in."

I stare at her blankly. I just told her I cannot always stop everyone from bullying her, so what does she mean? I voice my thoughts to her.

* * *

"Join with me," she answers.

My jaw drops in shock. So that is the kicker, she wants me to join cheerleading with her. Oh god, I had never even remotely considered joining cheerleading before, let alone actually doing it.

Sheeva looks up swiftly and reads the look on my face and hurriedly blurts,

"Come on, It will be fun! We should experience as much as we can! I would just be miserable if I joined cheerleading without you, you are my only real friend and all the girls would do is pick on me and find ways to kick me off the team. People listen to you though. Plus, your dad just said the other day that you should get more involved in school, this is the perfect opportunity."

"He was talking about clubs though, not cheerleading!" I reply, exasperated. Why cheerleading? Why? Is that even considered a sport?

"Oh, come on. It will be easy for you. You're really flexible already and I saw you do that back flip. Half the time when you sit on the floor you're in a split," she argues.

"That's because it's comfortable for me!" I argue.

It was true. Those positions just happened to feel very comfortable for me and I did not even realize I was in those positions half the time. I had not been in a school for a long time so I was still getting used to what was normal behavior for humans. Being so flexible comes easily to me most likely because of my animalistic nature. I have no trouble with simple flips and turns since I did them all the time in my animal forms. So I had figured out easily enough how to do the same in human form. I have a clear understanding of how my body moves and how an animals' body moves thanks to my ability to shift. I had to know about that kind of stuff being what I am since I cannot shift unless I had a complete understanding of an animals' body.

"Cheerleading will be easy for you! Come on, please? You just have to join the team. You don't have to try hard or anything," she begs, pouting.

She looks away and tugs at a random thread hanging off her shirt nervously. Her brows furrow in what I know is mock concentration as she tries to pull the dangling thread off her shirt. She gives up and looks at me again.

"I was on the cheer squad in middle school before everything happened," she mumbles, deep in thought. "Their teasing and meanness made me quit though. It just made me miserable. But if I was with you, I know I would be okay."

She looks so pitiful now, dejectedly playing with her hands. I sigh, giving in.

"Okay, I'll join cheerleading with you. But tha-" I start but am cut off by her grabbing me in a rough hug and shouting her thanks at me over and over.

Across the room, I see my siblings smirking at me. Rosalie mouths to me,

"She's got you wrapped around her little finger."

I stick my tongue out at her in response.

Well at least Carlisle would leave me alone about extracurricular activities now.

* * *

"You want to join the cheerleading team? What can you do?" asks Coach Baker, leaning back and sizing us up.

We probably were not very impressive since I looked a complete mess. Somehow, my reflexed had failed me and I had fallen on the ground so now dirt was smudged all over my shirt and pants. Sheeva had thrown her hair in a messy ponytail and could barely look the coach in the eye. Also, considering that cheerleading tryouts had already passed, our future in cheerleading did not look bright at all. At least for this school year it did not. Bridget was trying to convince the Coach to let us on the team still, she was not doing to eloquent of a job though. She was too nervous.

"I used to cheerlead from sixth to eighth grade. I quit in the middle of the season last year though," answers Sheeva nervously, playing with the hem of her shirt.

Coach Baker does not look too impressed with us, not at all.

"What position were you?" she asked. Now she seems like she is toying with us.

"Flyer."

I had no clue what they were talking about. I have barely seen cheerleading before, so I have no idea what the terms are, let alone what they mean. Cheerleading was more of an American sport, so I did not have much to do with us. Sheeva ends her very sad speech on why we should be on the team.

Coach Baker still does not look very convinced. Sheeva looks at me desperately and I shrug at her. I could not make the teacher add us to the squad, I was not a miracle worker. Suddenly, it looks as if a light bulb has gone off in Sheeva's head.

"Lily can do flips and stuff! Yeah, and she can already do splits and everything else even though she has never done cheerleading!" Sheeva blurts out desperately. I hear snickers from the cheerleaders, and I send a glare their way. Coach Baker's amused glance changes once Sheeva finished, and she backs up looking me up and down.

"You can do flips?" she questions.

I sigh and nod at her question. She motions for me to demonstrate. I do a few back flips and a front flip for good measure. Sheeva walks over to me, her arms stiff at her sides from nerves.

"Only two other girls on the team can do flips. Our team is small and not very well funded," she whispers out the side of her mouth.

Coach Baker looks at me impressed. "Well good job girls, you're on the team. Once you pay your dues, you can get a cheerleading uniform, okay?"

We nod in understanding, and Coach Baker motions us toward the bleachers to watch the practice.

"Girls! We have two new cheerleaders joining us today. This is Sheeva and this is…" she trails off, unsure of my name.

"Lily," Sheeva says.

"Yes, this is Lily. For today, we're going to go over some of the dances we need to know. Seniors, partner with the freshmen and start teaching them the dance. Juniors and sophomores work together and perfect your moves."

She blows the whistle and all of the cheerleader's partner up and start to go over the dance together.

"They must get about the same people every year if the only ones who need to learn the dance are the freshmen," I say.

Sheeva nods, watching the dance moves carefully. I realize that I have completely lost her attention and start to watch them myself. All the moves seem simple enough. They are basically making a bunch of L's, T's, V's, and X's with their arms and bodies. One of the juniors or sophomores began to mess around, pulling her foot to her head and then sticking her arm though the hole it created on the side.

"That's called the Bow and Arrow," Sheeva says, seeing me staring. "That girl is the best on the team… and the most popular."

The girl is giggling now, laughing with one of her friends. Then she notices us staring and her giggling stops and her face turns into a glare. She turns her back to us and her friends do the same, snubbing us.

"That's Tiffany," Sheeva whispers.

That was Tiffany? The Tiffany with the boyfriend that cheated on Tiffany, Tiffany? She was pretty in that all American kind of way. She had dirty blonde hair and light brown eyes, with a dimple on the left side when she smiled.

"She and Jessica run their clique, they're best friends. Jessica isn't here though because she sucks at cheerleading. She is, however, on the track team."

I nod to show that I am listening. It is an interesting hierarchy, one in cheerleading and the other in track.

"And that guy that cheated on you both… she's still dating him?" I ask curious.

"Yeah, they've been on and off, but they are still dating each other."

I was starting to understand a bit more about high school. This high school is completely different from the high school I went to in Estonia. I was not sure if it was so different because it was a different country or if it was because it was almost ten years ago that I was in school.

Maybe it was a bit of both.


	12. One New Agreement

Hey guys! I almost forgot to upload a chapter, I've been going crazy the last week. So much had been happening in my personal life. Well here's the next Chapter. I'm going to try to upload a chapter every Saturday. Thanks to all my reviewers! I love reading all of your comments. Also, for some reason no matter what I cannot enter a break between this a/n and the story, it's annoying my so bad lol.

* * *

We were running towards the border line to meet with the wolves. One of the shape shifting wolves had contacted us about updating the treaty. I guess us living here had forced them into phasing, and they did not sound too happy about it. I had changed into a lizard and was holding onto Jasper as we ran to the border. I felt like being small and inconspicuous. I was pretty excited to meet another being that was similar to me.

We reach the meeting point and we waited for the sure sound of footsteps padding in the down of the forest. Soon after stopping, a huge black wolf enters from the shadows followed by a dark brown wolf. I almost fall over in shock once I see them; they are enormous. I cannot even comprehend how it was physically possible for a human to change into something as big as the animals that stood before me. I did not even hear them coming, I was not sure if my family did though. They had not looked surprised as they melded out of the shadows seamlessly.

"They say they're not comfortable changing into human form," Edward say softly, interrupting my thoughts.

They look at him, incredulous that he knew that, and he explains that he can read minds. It does not seem to sit well with them, but they deal with it and start to hammer out treaty rules.

"As of now there are only two werewolves, but more are likely to phase soon?" Edward says.

Phase? I never thought to use that word before, I had always just used 'change' or 'shift.' I crawl from Jasper's shirt pocket, where I was sitting, or hiding depending how you look at it, and climb up to his shoulder and nestle up there. The dark brown one sees me from the corner of his eye, and his head shifts over to me quickly, staring at me in what appears to be shock. I am not really sure since I have not seen human emotions on an animal before. The black one suddenly glances at the dark brown one and then follows his eyes to me as well. I flick a tongue at them in response, and they blink puppy eyes at me. They look so cute confused, it makes me want to pet them.

I hop off of Jasper's shoulder and shift into a wolf before touching the ground. One of them falls over in shock and the other one's jaw drops. They look quite funny now, maybe I should mess with them more often.

"This is Lily. She's part of our family. She's not a vampire, but a shifter like you."

Then they have a conversation no one can understand since we can only understand Edward. All I know is that they are talking about me. I look between the two wolves, picking the less scary dark brown one, and walk over to him. He looks dubious of me, unsure of what to make of me. I run against him, and slam my front paws on the ground playfully. He snorts at me, and makes a weird huffing sound. He then takes one huge paw and pokes me, making me become unbalanced and fall over. I am strong, but not as strong as vampires and werewolves. I do not know what the purpose of my species is, but apparently we were not made to kill vampires like these shifters were.

"So we're at an agreement?" I hear Carlisle say.

I whine, the noise coming out pitiful from my wolf frame. I want to learn more about them. I have never met other shifters before. I walk over to Edward, screaming in my head at him what I want. When I want him to understand my thoughts, he can. But usually he did not understand a thing.

"I…" he starts, fading off, "Lily would like to meet with you and… find out more about your species. She has never met shape shifters before and wants to see if she could learn something from you. We've had to learn everything through trial and error through her."

The werewolves have a one sided conversation again. I finally get irritated and start nudging Edward with my shoulder. Over and over and over again. He looks down at me annoyed, and I give him a wolfish grin.

"What Lily? I'm trying to work something out," he whispers furtively to me. I give him an exaggerated glare with my wolf face, to make sure he gets the message. He shakes his head at me, half in annoyance and half in amusement.

"Okay, he said he will meet with you at this same spot along with one of us and speak with you about being a werewolf." Edward finally says.

I jump up in excitement, looking over to the black wolf and making excited yips at him. He makes some semblance of a smile, before backing up into the shadows along with the other wolf making sure not to turn their backs to us. It was odd how quick and seamless it was for them to fade into the backdrop of the forest.

* * *

"Has everyone stretched?"

"Yes," we all reply.

Cheerleading is not as bad as I thought it would be. In fact, I kind of enjoy it when we are not doing those stupid letter moves. The coach gave me the base position, whatever that means. All I know is that I need to make sure the girl that goes in the air does not die or get critically injured when she comes back down to the ground. Coach was not sure where she wanted Sheeva yet, she kept alternating her between flyer and base. Tiffany, the bane of Sheeva's existence, and I were the designated stunt people in charge of doing all the complicated tricks. She wanted all of us to be able to flip by the end of the year, but I doubt that would happen. It looked as if half of them were cheerleaders just to do something or for the heck of it.

"Line up for the dance!" Coach shouts, blowing her whistle. Jesus that whistle blows out my eardrums every time. We all get into our respective positions and begin our practice. The first game of the season is coming up, so we have to be prepared.

For the most part, Tiffany ignores Sheeva and I. She acts like we are not there, which is fine by me in my books. As long as she does not bother us, I do not care what she thinks or does. I look over to Sheeva, watching her position.

Sheeva is short, around five feet tall. Her father is Afghan and her mother is Caucasian. Her father died when she was very little, so she does not remember him very much or have much of a connection to his culture since he had no family in the United States. The only thing she really got from his culture was her name, if you could even count that.

Sheeva has really pretty eyes. The edges of them are a dark greenish-blue and near the pupil is a yellowish color. The part in between the edge of her iris and the edge of her cornea is almost a light moss color. Like I said before, they are really pretty eyes. Her hair is a medium brown with natural high lights in it and it is on the long side. Her skin is a very light tan color, almost so light that her skin was white. She has a face that does not require too much makeup, and if she did put too much makeup on she would look silly.

For home life she just has her mom, her mother had never remarried after her father died. She said her mother occasionally dates, but she usually did not meet the men. Sheeva's mother works at a local diner. Because of that, she spends a lot of time home alone. Her mother does not have a choice though, she has to pay bills somehow.

"Lily! Are you paying attention? You're getting off beat," Coach yells to me.

I quickly glance around, trying to figure out where we are, and get back into the practice. Today was going to be one of those longs days, I could feel it.


End file.
